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Process ore in Australia, Clive Palmer says

Peter Ker

Australia's south-eastern states should become the downstream processing arm of the mining states, billionaire miner Clive Palmer says.

Speaking in Melbourne this morning, Mr Palmer said the federal government could mitigate the nation’s two-speed economy by enacting policies that encouraged more stages of the mining process to occur within Australia rather than overseas.

‘‘We should be taking the resources that we have in this country to the states that don’t have the resources and setting up downstream processing,’’ he said.

‘‘I believe we should have more of that sort of activity taking place in places like Victoria, South Australia and we need policy setting that allows that to happen.’’

Many Australian mining companies - particularly the high-grade iron ore miners in the Pilbara - dig ore that is sent overseas almost immediately without any processing or beneficiation.

Downstream processing is code for jobs, as it usually requires factories and extra workers to get involved.

Mr Palmer will next year join the ranks of Australia’s iron ore exporters, and while he did not promise to beneficiate all his product domestically, he urged Canberra to make changes that would allow companies to make sure the ‘‘positive benefits’’ of the mining boom flowed through.

‘‘We see our economy is very strong but many of our citizens are suffering,’’ he said.

Mr Palmer also warned that last week's deal to station American troops in Darwin could be bad for Australia's business relationship with China.